Lucy's Bad Day
by Daydream-wannabewriter
Summary: When your day feels like your living in Murphy's Law, sometimes you have to walk through the bad to get to the good. Lucy's having a day that we could all relate to. Inspired by the song "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter Rated T for Language


Lucy's Bad Day

AN: Inspired by the song "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter

Rated T for Language

Fairy Tail and All of its wonderful characters belong to Hiro Mashima

* * *

Lucy was having a bad day. A really, _really_ bad day.

She woke up with a headache that came out of nowhere, only to find out that she was out of pain medication when she finally stumbled into the bathroom. She groaned in agony, then turned to take a shower, only to realize that her hot water wasn't working after she stepped into its frigid stream. '_Yet another thing to complain about to that cheapskate landlady,' _she decided after she calmed her pounding heart that the freezing water had jump started, and hoped that her pounding head would soon follow suit. '_Fuck, it hurts to think!'_ She winced, closing her espresso colored eyes in pain.

After getting dressed, she went into the kitchen to start her morning brew. Problem was, she was out of coffee. '_Son of a-,' _she cut herself off, closing her eyes and taking a breath. Instead, she decided to go to the little cafe near her Strawberry Street apartment for her daily caffeine intake.

There was a certain pink haired, green eyed hunk of a barista who worked there who might just be able to brighten her day.

Lucy grabbed her bag of writing supplies and exited her living quarters. Surely she could get a little inspiration for her next novel while she was enjoying her repast.

The blonde had decided to stop at the pharmacy along the way to the cafe to buy some headache medicine, only to realize that she left her wallet at home once she had gotten to the register.

Giving herself a facepalm, she quietly groaned to herself, "Fuck my life…"

"Having a bad day, dearie?" The kindly older woman behind the register inquired, giving Lucy an understanding look.

She gave the cashier a rueful look as she slowly removed her hand from he face. "You don't know the half of it," she bowed her head as she laughed mirthlessly.

If she didn't laugh, she most certainly would've started to cry.

Lucy turned to go, calling over her shoulder to the kind woman as she exited, "I'll be back soon. I don't live far from here." She then raced back to her home, berating herself the entire way there.

As promised, Lucy came back to the store a few minutes later. She was in a panting mess, her ragged inhales and exhales causing her still pounding headache more pain. The cashier gave the younger girl a look of sympathy when she spotted the wince of pain flittering across her face.

"I do hope that you feel better, dearie," the older woman said with kindness as she rung up the blonde's items. "It's always darkest before the dawn, and I'm certain that your bad day will get better."

Lucy blinked at her, then gave her a warm, if pained, smile. "Thank you," she said with sincerity. "I really hope that you're right."

After finally making her purchases and exiting the pharmacy for the last time, Lucy once again started for the cafe. She was more determined than ever to have her beverage of choice, take her headache medicine, and to hopefully engage in a brief conversation with the sexy-as-hell barista with the pink hair and killer smile.

Unfortunately, with a block left until she had finally reached her long awaited destination, the gray clouds that had been low hanging all day had decided to open up with a crack of thunder and torrential downpour.

This stopped the blonde in her tracks in shock. When she finally recovered a moment later, she was already soaked to the bone. She glowered at the rain clouds above her and shouted loudly in an incredulous voice, "Seriously?!"

Lucy stomped the rest of her way to the cafe, no longer caring that her heavy footfalls were causing the fast forming puddles to splash higher onto her legs, nor that they made the pounding in her head worse. She grumbled expletives under her breath the entire way until she was finally able to shove open the entrance of the Fairy's Tail Cafe, grateful for the shelter from the storm.

Soon, however, her sopping wet shoes made contact with the glossy floor tiles, causing her to slip and lose her balance. Before her mind registered that she was, in fact, about to fall on her backside, a pair of warm, strong arms grasped her around her middle to steady her.

"Whoa, are you okay?" A rough, masculine voice inquired as the dazed girl glanced towards its source. Eyes the color of moss filled her vision, followed by strands of pink hair as her rescuers bangs fell in front of them. Those eyes widened in recognition a moment later, causing the male before her to smirk. "Hey Luce! Have you started falling for me now?" He joked, his voice filled with mischief.

Gaining her footing once more, Lucy ignored the flush on her cheeks as she playfully swatted at her rescuer. "Cut it out, Natsu. It's not my fault that I got caught in the rain," she complained with a sigh as she removed herself from his grip. "Why aren't you behind the counter, impressing folks with your 'latte art'?"

"Well," he started, grabbing something that was bright yellow from behind him, "someone had to put up the 'wet floor' signs," he said as his smirk evolved into a toothy grin.

The blonde groaned, shaking her head before grabbing at it, regretting the motion as she closed her eyes in a wince. The morning's headache had intensified, and if she didn't down her meds with some caffeine soon, she didn't know what she'd do.

Seeing the pain on his friend's face, Natsu's smile morphed into a look of concern. "Why don't you go sit down. I'll bring over your usual, it's on me today," he said as he took her arm to guide her over to a plush sofa.

"Oh no, you don't have t-" Lucy started to protest with a whimper while still holding her aching head.

"I can tell that your day hasn't been the greatest. You're soaked from the rain and obviously in pain," the pinkette interceded as he gave her arm a gentle squeeze. "Just...let me take care of you for just this once," he said softly.

Lucy looked up at him through her long, dark lashes and gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you," she replied as she lowered her hand from her head, "but could you at least give me a towel so that I don't ruin the couch?"

Natsu snickered at her complaint, taking in her bedraggled appearance once more, noticing not for the first time how her wet clothes were clinging to her curves. "Okay, fine," he started with mischief mix in his eyes. "Besides, the drowned rat doesn't really suit ya anyways, ya weirdo," he teased her as he walked away to grab the requested item.

Lucy growled at him, puffing her cheeks out in annoyance.

He had to hold back a chuckle when he saw the look she gave him as he turned back to face her, handing her some dish towels.

"We don't really keep towels here, but these are clean and dry at least," Natsu explained as he set another set of dish towels down on the couch for her to sit on. "You should probably use one for your hair…" his voice trailed off as his hand went to move a stray lock of hair from her face. He caught himself before he completed the movement, cleared his throat and forced himself to take a step back. "... because… you don't want to get sick, right?" He finished a little nervously. "I'll go get your order," he said as he turned to head behind the counter.

'_I wonder what that was all about,_' the blonde thoughtfully hummed to herself as she sat down on the covered sofa, took a towel, and started on her hair.

Lucy's hair was about a third of the way dry when she heard a bit of a commotion coming from the area behind the counter. She looked up to find Natsu cursing at himself as he cleaned up the mess that he created; coffee and milk was spilled on the counter and dripping onto the floor. She giggled at the sight.

He looked to her when he heard the most beautiful sound coming from her rosy lips. He smiled at the fact that he could make this angel laugh when she was having such a shitty day, then quickly looked away before the weirdo could catch him staring at her. It wasn't long before the pinkette was finished cleaning up the mess and getting started on creating her drink.

Being a barista had some benefits, and Natsu wasn't above utilizing them. He carefully crafted a delicate fairy into the foam of her salted caramel latte and added a little extra sweet treat to the tray before he trekked over to where the blonde sat.

"So Lucy," Natsu began as he carefully set down her latte and a chocolate croissant on the table in front of her, "I was wondering…" He waited a moment as she admired the 'latte art' before she popped her medicine into her mouth and took a sip of her drink to wash it down. "Would you like to see the new Marvel movie with me tomorrow?"

Lucy nearly choked on the hot liquid in shock, resulting in a coughing fit that nearly cracked her ribs. "W-what?" She sputtered, blinking up at the green-eyed hunk she'd been ogling over for what seemed like forever with bleary eyes.

Natsu cackled as he patted her back to help. "I asked if -," he said in between his fits of laughter, "if you wanted to see a movie with me tomorrow."

Finally catching her breath, Lucy blinked the tears out of her eyes and leveled him with a look, a small smile creeping onto her face. "Why Natsu Dragneel, are you asking me out on a date?" She asked coyly, a light blush settling on her features.

"...maybe I am," he said as he scratched at the back of his neck nervously, his face slowly matching hers in color. "So… whaddaya say, Luce? Wanna go out with me?"

Her smile grew as her pulse quickened, a warm feeling of excitement lit her from within like a burst of starlight. "I'd really like that," she answered brightly.

The pinkette gaped at her in awe. "...yeah?" he answered, a grin slowly spreading across his face.

Lucy giggled at his expression, but it made her feel so _good. _

And the best part?

Lucy's bad day just got better.

_Fin. _


End file.
